The Book of Shadows
The Book of Shadows, often just referred to as The Book, is the magical tome of the Warren Line of Witches. It is the most powerful and coveted of the Books of Shadows in the whole world and is over 300 years old. The Book has been passed down every generation ever since it was created by Melinda Warren in the 17th century Besides all the information about the craft, the Book contains many entries on several beings from the magical community, including demons, warlocks, and other demonic beings. It also contains many spells and potion recipes, most of which were written by Penny Halliwell. History The Charmed Ones' book was started by Melinda Warren, who began the Warren/Halliwell line of witches, with the year "1692" written on its cover page. Although it was fairly small then, each succeeding generation of Warren witches had added onto it, including information that they came across and felt necessary to be added to inform the next generation after them. One of the earliest entries that was around when Melinda was alive included a curse, and possibly the entry which details the coming of the Charmed Ones, through carvings, though this could've been done by a future descendant. After Melinda was burned at the stake, the Book passed to her daughter Prudence, and was passed down throughout the generations. Penny Halliwell often noted that she created most of the potion recipes in it (as Evil Witch Vanquishing Potion), and the entry on the Necromancer, The Ice Cream Man and Gammill, The Collector. She wrote possible the Belthazor Vanquishing Spell, Upper Level Demon Vanquishing Potion and the spells To Increase Patience, To Unbind a Bond and To Bind. Patty Halliwell added text on Barbas, the Demon of Fear, and also, the page on how to properly raise and nurture magical children. The Charmed Ones themselves have added information, spells and potions, as well, for future generations. Piper added notes on the Charm of Confidence after she had used it on a waiter at Quake and it backfired (due to doubling the ingredients). The first spell they added themselves was "The Woogyman Spell", or how to banish the Shadow of the Nexus. Phoebe added a page on Cole Turner, Belthazor's human half including personal information like his favorite food and hobbies; "anything that could help future witches" after he'd broken her heart. This was reminiscent of the alterations Penny made to the Necromancer page, adding such things as "likes Clarke Gable movies" to aid in her getting over the end of their romantic relationship. Phoebe also wrote an entry on the warlock Anton. A few spells in the Book of Shadows are used for personal gain. It's likely that these spells were put in to teach future witches about the personal gain consequences; or as to they served a magical purpose to deal with evils of the time. Piper, Phoebe and Paige added their own entries regarding what they've been through in their years as the Charmed Ones in order to pass down the knowledge to future generations. Leo added the entry titled, "Tips for Future Whitelighters," logging information about whitelighters and how to properly use their powers, for his sons, Wyatt and Chris, just in case he wasn't around to teach them, himself. Except he added this entry before his daughter, Melinda was born or even conceived. So he didn't know she would even be part whitelighter like her brothers. when a Warren/Halliwell witch dies, their magic is ingrained within the Book. So when the sisters die, they, like their ancestors, will essentially become a part of the Book, so to speak. Stealing The Book of Shadows Many evil beings have attempted to steal the Book of Shadows 'The Shapeshifters' A trio of shapeshifters posing as the Charmed Ones' neighbors tried to get the book by posing as a postman. Although they could touch the book (representative of how the Charmed Ones weren't quite strong enough for its protection to be at full power yet), they couldn't get it out the front door. 'Abraxis' This demon managed to capture it by bringing it to the Astral Plane. This was possible as, technically, the book was still in the house (or rather the area where the house would be on the Astral Plane) but just on another plane. Due to his telekinetic powers, he could easily flick through the pages and move the book without it hurting or repelling him. By reading the spells in the book backwards, he almost rebound the Charmed Ones' powers, but they were able to retrieve it just in time. 'Cole Turner' The human half of Belthazor tried to get the book, however, by then it was strong enough that no evil could touch it. As a result, it jumped off its stand and avoided him everytime he took a step forward. He later mentioned that he got shocked the last time he tried to touch it 'Dantalian' A dark priestess named Dantalian worked with a warlock named Zile to capture Prue and unite them in a dark wedding ceremony which turned Prue into a warlock. By this time, the sisters' magic was so intertwined that the evil bond turned Piper and Phoebe into warlocks, and the influence contaminated the Book as well. Since the Book was now evil, Dantalian was able to steal it and take its power into her own hands -- thus becoming the first evil being to physically get the Book out of the manor. By vanquishing the warlock, the evil bond broke and the sisters and the book returned to normal. 'Bacarra' In the alternate timeline of, the warlock Bacarra time traveled back a few months with knowledge from the future to help his past-self. He told him of potion to blanket himself in goodness long enough to get through the Book's defenses, which contained among other ingredients Piper's blood. This allowed him to steal the book, which even he noted contained information on and vanquishing potions for nearly every demon he'd ever heard of. Fortunately, Piper traveled back to stop him the entire series of events from happening, and Bacarra never got the book. 'The Stillman Sisters' Three evil low level witches, the Stillman Sisters, cast an identity theft spell to make the world see them as the Charmed Ones. The book saw the Stillmans as the Charmed Ones as well; it wouldn't even let the real sisters touch it. The Stillmans then broke into the Manor and used a spell in the Book to steal the sisters' powers. However, the real sisters were able to convince their whitelighter, Chris Halliwell, that they were the real Charmed Ones. He tricked the Stillmans into fighting with each other and severing their bond as sisters, which undid identity theft spell. The real sisters then took back their powers, bound the Stillmans' and turned them over to the authorities. 'Zankou' The demon Zankou was able to steal the Book by killing friends of the sisters and resurrecting innocents that they've lost, to make them feel weak and vulnerable. Whilst all three of them being mentally weakened, the Book's defenses were weakened as well and Zankou used the opportunity to take it. Though he managed to take it into his hands, he needed the sisters' powers to access its magic. Since the sisters lost their confidence, the Book defended itself against them instead. Eventually they managed to get it back with a Power of Three spell. Appearance The Book of Shadows is very large, about the size of a dictionary or encyclopedia volume. It is bound in green leather, the front cover has a symbol composed of an interlocking triquetra and circle on it, symbolizing the Power of Three and the Warren/Halliwell Family of Witches. Despite being three hundred years old, the book is actually in very good condition, although the pages have yellowed somewhat with age. The book is written by hand in ink. Entries have their titles in elaborate multicolored calligraphy. The book is written by the whole Warren/Halliwell line, throughout the generations, and possibly by also very close friends. The book contains many illustrations, chiefly of demons and other magical creatures. Most of the book is in English, but some of it is in Italian and Latin. The book's organization is haphazard at best. The sisters remarked on several occasions that they searched "the entire book" when looking for specific information. This suggests that the book's previous owners simply filled in the pages sequentially rather than arranging the contents topically. (Given that the Book of Shadows is a collaborative work with contributions by generations of Warren and Halliwell witches, topical organization was likely a practical impossibility). Powers and Abilities The Book of Shadows, is also notable because evil cannot touch it, thanks to the shielding and sensing powers it is blessed with. Nor can it be taken out of the Halliwell Manor, except by the sisters, good magical or non-magical being. This is particularly important, as many evil beings covet the book, and the Charmed Ones would be much weaker without its knowledge. Although it is protected by good magic, evil has found a way around this and captured the book several times. The Book is tied very closely to the Charmed Ones' powers. For example, when Rex Buckland blackmailed them into giving up their powers, the Book turned blank after they cast the Relinquishment Spell. However, when Leo healed and restored the Book, their powers were restored as well. Though, when the Angel of Destiny offered to take away their powers, he said the Book would not be harmed, and would pass down to a future descendant. It can be presumed that its magic varies indifferently when it is passed on from one generation to the next, depending on its new master's magical state Also, if one of the Charmed Ones turns evil through a dark wedding to a warlock, the other two will become evil as well, and the evil will flow through the Book. Dantalian, a high-level demon priestess, realized this, and tricked Prue into marrying a warlock, Zile, turning her evil. As expected, this turned Piper, Phoebe and the Book evil as well, enabling her to briefly get the Book. In addition, the Book's original pages also transformed to those for evildoings. The plan backfired when evil Piper and Phoebe vanquished Zile, breaking the evil bond and restoring the Book to normal Paige tried to copy the book, but because of its protection power every page came out blank. The Book has a different protection mechanism against evil, when someone tried to take it; jumping off the stand, repelling the being away from the Book, a spherical shield around the Book, burning the user's hands. an evil shapeshifter was able to touch the book and take it as far as the front door before it repels itself from his grasp. But later on it is impossible for evil to even touch the Book. However, the Charmed Ones' who just got there magic back, were not strong enough for its full protection to be activated. For a demon or half-demon to be able to touch it without triggering its defensive properties, the being must have pure good intentions in his heart. The magic the book possesses came from the deceased family ancestors who then become part of the book, which is presumably how it became so powerful throughout the centuries. Category:Books Category:Artifacts Category:The Book of Shadows